Kerry Wright, deputy director of Inmate Programs at the Cook County Jail, speaks about her experiences managing inmate support services and teaching yoga and meditation to incarcerated people in the Cook County Jail, March 5, during a Socially Engaged Yoga Network (SEYN) panel discussion at Chaturunga Holistic Fitness, 1525 E. 55th St.

By SAM RAPPAPORT
Staff Writer

As criminal justice reform continues to push its way to the forefront of this nation’s political dialogue, some activists are touting yoga as a remedy to the physical and psychological confines of incarceration. On Saturday, March 5, the Socially Engaged Yoga Network (SEYN) hosted a panel discussion at Chaturanga Holistic Fitness, 1525 E. 55th St., in which various yogis spoke on their experiences of teaching yoga in prisons and jails.

The event was part of a larger effort by SEYN to encourage inclusivity within the world of yoga. Carol Horton, a founding member of SEYN, said that the cost associated with practicing yoga has limited the exercise’s reach.

“It has traditionally very much been a white women’s movement,” Horton said. “But there’s such a human benefit to it, anyone who wants it should be able to do it.”

Marshawn Feltus, a member of Saturday’s panel and an ex-offender, said that he now finds comfort within jail walls while teaching yoga to inmates.

“I think sometimes that free people don’t appreciate it or get it,” Feltus said. “Maybe it’s because their sanity is not on the line.”

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